Coral reef discovered off west coast

[The Austrian]

A massive new deep-sea coral reef has been discovered off the west coast.

Marine researchers from NUI Galway have found a virtually untouched 200sq km rugged area of seabed covered in 100m high underwater hills and coral plants more than three times the normal size.

Dr. Anthony Grehan, NUI Galway, said if protected the virtually untouched site could benefit dwindling fish stocks and possibly aid medical research. "These are by far the most pristine, thriving and hence spectacular examples of cold-water coral reefs that I've encountered in almost 10 years of study in Irish waters," he said.

more here:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0526/marine.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bre ... tml?via=mr
http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 51760.html
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/05 ... 243347009/

[corbyeire]

i think the key thing here is that they reported it - theyve known for years they were out there but im sure were afraid of what might happen to it if the wrong hands got near it

big plug for more funding